Tinakula is a small, volcanic island in the South Pacific, located about 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) northeast of Brisbane, Australia. This natural-color satellite image (top) shows a plume of volcanic gas, possibly mixed with a bit of ash, rising above the island’s summit.

Around the island, the reflection of sunlight on the ocean—sunglint—gives the surface a milky appearance that makes the wave patterns readily visible.

These images were collected by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite (top) and MODIS on the Terra satellite on February 14, 2012. Thanks to the members of Activ for notifying us of the activity.